News and Media

(8/3/2018) Courthouse hotel plans recommended for approval

The proposal to convert Fremantle’s state heritage-listed Police and Courthouse complex into a hotel and restaurant precinct has been recommended for conditional approval by the City of Fremantle’s planning committee.

The development plan includes a 62-room hotel on the police station site, adapting the courthouse into a bar and restaurant and adapting the lock-up and police quarters into shops and commercial units.

The original concept included a six-storey hotel but, following advice from the City’s planning and heritage officers, that was scaled down to five storeys which is consistent with the maximum discretionary height permitted under Fremantle’s local planning scheme.

The City’s recommendation will now be considered by the South West Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP), which has the final say on the proposal.

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt said should JDAP approve the development, it will be the third major development involving adaptive re-use of important heritage buildings to be approved in the past three months.

“In December we saw the approval of a boutique hotel in the Warders Cottages, and in January the redevelopment of the Manning Buildings was approved,” Mayor Pettitt said.

“If the Courthouse proposal gets the green light from JDAP that will mean more than $23 million has been committed to the conservation and re-use of some of the most important heritage buildings in Fremantle.

“Projects like this are an excellent way to attract the significant investment that is required to preserve these important buildings, while also adding to the vibrancy of the city and giving people even more reasons to visit Fremantle.”

The original Courthouse and Police Station on Henderson Street was built between 1899 and 1903, with further extensions and additions in 1957 and 1978.

The complex has been vacant since Fremantle Police relocated to High Street in 2013.

Some of the conditions the planning committee recommended included measures to limit the impact of neighbouring noise on the hotel, the retention of original verandahs and balustrades and a requirement to submit further details of all conservation works for approval before building work starts.